Friday, 20 December 2013

Preparing for Winter Writing

It has been very cold in Winnipeg these last couple of weeks! We decided to embrace winter by reading winter stories, creating winter inspired art pieces and enjoying some hot chocolate! You can never forget the hot chocolate! All of these activities have been strategically created to help us with our writing. In January, we will be writing about a favourite activity we do outdoors. We want to celebrate winter by creating written pieces that make the reader feel as though they are participating in the activity too.

Mrs. Steuart selected the picture book, Owl Moon by Jane Yolen. You can view the video of it below. This book is rich in simile, metaphor and vivid vocabulary.

After watching and listening to the story, we acted like text detectives. We talked about what Jane did in her writing that made us want to keep reading. Mrs. Steuart gave us a copy of the text. She typed up the first couple of pages and we could highlight what we noticed and jot our thinking in the margins.

Then we created a chart together as a class in our BLB's (Book Lover's Books). We could use this chart as a reference when we write our own winter pieces in the new year.

We also compared Jane Yolen's writing to a piece of writing one might find in a journal. We highlighted the first word in each sentence and noticed that Jane starts her sentences differently and they vary in length. Some are short. Others are long.

You have to embrace the snow in Winnipeg. Two art pieces - "Not Another Snow Storm" and "Hot Chocolate Mugs" - got us into the winter spirit!

NOT ANOTHER SNOW STORM!!!!

How could we sketch hot chocolate mugs without tasting the velvety goodness that lives inside? Mrs. Steuart made a big crockpot of hot chocolate and warmed it up at school. She also made candy cane stir sticks. You stick a candy cane in the centre of a marshmallow. Then you dip it in melted chocolate and roll it in crushed candy cane pieces. They were yummy!

We are enjoying our hot chocolate treat on PJ day!

All of these experiences - creating wintery art, reading rich winter writing and of course, tasting a delicious wintery drink have prepared us to write about winter in the New Year. Stay tuned!